


We venture forth into that broken future - a poem translated from the Romulan

by Keenir



Category: Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Gen, Prompted by the start of the 'Star Trek Picard' novel, Romulans, Triple Drabble, with notes from the translator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22668853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keenir/pseuds/Keenir
Summary: We have done this before; we do it once more now;Again, our future has broken ranks with itself, and again we advance to seize our rightful victory;  once more into the breach, dear friends;We became Romulans; who are we to become next?(or, "we must once more move ourselves to a degree we have only done once before, not knowing what will become of us")
Kudos: 5





	We venture forth into that broken future - a poem translated from the Romulan

We have done this before; we do it once more now;

Left, fled, departed, exiled - the wordchoice now a squabble for partisans; it happened before and now;

We must leave our world, our worlds; the Star Empire we carved out with our minds and determination;

How much will we lose of our home; what will remain of ourselves;

We have done this before; we do it once more now;

Again, our future has broken ranks with itself, and again we advance to seize our rightful victory; once more into the breach, dear friends; [1]

We venture forth into that broken future; 

We have done this before; we do it once more now;

When last we did this, we were not Romulans, they were not Vulcans; we moved without guidance beyond what our brains could supply;

Now we are Romulans, they are Vulcans; they and their allies offer assistance, supplies, tools;

Logic and pride, need and physics; we know what can change and what cannot change and what must change;

We have done this before; we do it once more now;

Our Star Empire will certainly suffer; our Star Empire may even die;

Death to us as a Star Empire, most assuredly; death to us as a people, never;

We shall continue; we shall rebuild;

Our new homes will be the sapling of our next domain; we shall shape it into a power equal or greater to the Star Empire;

We became Romulans; next we shall become - [2]

We have done this before; we do it once more now;

Strode out into the depths of space, alone, ourselves only; founded Romulus and our realm; 

Advanced; encountered our Vulcan kin and experienced degrees of reunion with them;

Made mistakes and made nonmistakes; none of either crafted this vast loss we face now; [3]

We have done this before; we do it once more now;

Planetless, we gathered worlds; let us do so once more;

We became Romulans; who are we to become next?

**Author's Note:**

>  **Footnotes:**  
>  [1] This line repeats the same idiom twice, thus I felt safe in rendering the second time in a more human-friendly way.
> 
> [2] A deliberate omission found in the original text: utilizing the shape of the untranslated material to heighten the mental processes and prepare the reader for the closing question.
> 
> [3] A deliberate reference to the famous quotation of Starfleet's Jean-Luc Picard "It is possible to make no mistakes, and still lose."


End file.
